Ahmed Gaid Salah

Ahmed Gaid Salah (13 January 1940-23 December 2019) was Chief of Staff of the Algerian army from 3 August 2004 to 23 December 2019, succeeding Mohamed Lamari and preceding Said Chengriha.

Biography
Ahmed Gaid Salah was born in Batna, Algeria on 13 January 1940, and he joined the FLN in 1958 and fought in the Algerian War against the French colonists. Salah became an artillery officer in the newly-independent country's military, fighting in the Sand War with Morocco from 1963 to 1964. Salah was promoted to General in 1993, became Chief of Staff of the Army in 2004, and served as Deputy Minister of Defense from 2013. On 26 March 2019, he compelled Abdelaziz Bouteflika to resign due to widespread protests against his presidency, and he became popular for arresting several of Bouteflika's former minister, confidants, and relatives on corruption charges; he subsequently supported holding a presidential election to decide the country's direction. He died of a heart attack on 23 December 2019 at the age of 79.